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CHEESE MAKING APPARATUS.

Patented Aug. 14,1883.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

sooTT JENKS, or cnnsnrnn, MAssAoHUsnTTs, AND HENRY w. MILLAB, or UTIOA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS o SAID JENKS, AND CHARLES AND HENRY w, MILLAB, or UTIOA, NEW YORK.

CHEESE-MAKINGAPPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 283,251, dated August 14, 1883.

Application filed February 9, 1883. (Nomodeh) 1 Toall whom it may concern Be it known that we, SooTT J ENKS, of Cheshire, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, and HENRY WV. 'MILLAR, of Utica, Oneida county, New York, citizens of the United States, have invented new. and useful Improvements inqCheese-Making Apparatus, of which the following is a specification. 3

Our invention relates to cheese-making apparatus, the specific device sought to be covered in the present invention being adapted to cut the curds and to traverse the vat automatically; and the novelty consists in the construction and arrangement of parts, as will be I 5 more fully hereinafter described, and specificallypointed out in the claims. 7 I

The' invention is designed as an improvement upon the construction and adaptation set forth in patent granted to S. Jenks, Novenr' 2o ber 7, 1882, and numbered 267,211, in which the revolving curd-cutter traversed the longitudinal plane of the milk-vat, and when one complete traverse was made the revolving cutterand carrying and actuating devices were stopped and reversed before the return traverse could be accomplished.

To obviate this peculiarity of the construction thereinset forth, and to allow the usejof vats of larger size, this invention is designed;

and to that end it consists, essentially, in a revolving curd-cutter which shall continually traverse a fixed path and shall always revolve in the same direction. This curd-cutter is controlled and manipulated by thevarious mech- 3 5 anisms fully illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, "and in which Figure 1 .is a central longitudinal vertical section of our invention, showing the gear 4o,traversing an internally-toothed rackjFig. 2, a top plan view; Fig. 3, 'an enlarged view, partly in section, showing the gear traversing an externally-toothed rack and actuated by belts, the irregular surfaces to be traversed by 4 5 said gear being accommodated by jointed arms;

and Fig. 4, a topplan' view of the same.

Referring tothe drawings, in which similar letters of reference indicate like parts in all the figures, A designates a board or plank'support cut away so as to receive an oblong or polygonal rack-bar, B, which rack-bar is traversed by a pinion, D, rigidly secured by key, feather, or otherwise to a shaft, D, having swivel-j oint at d, and carrying frame D provided with cutting-knives or agitators d, which 5 5 are removable and interchangeable at will. The pinion D being in mesh with the rack-bar B, and being held in such mesh by any suitable means, is made to traverse the said rack-bar continuously in one direction by any suitable connec tion with a motive power, two of which will be hereinafter explained.

In Fig. 1 we show anendless chain, G, with which is loosely engaged'a swivel, f,'carried upon the upper extremity of the revolving shaft D, and the chain Gis carried over sprocket-wheels H, carried upon shafts h, journaled in proper supports above the rack B,and to one of these shafts the motive power is applied.

C'indicates a vat having the ordinary heating-pipes, c, and this vat is made preferably twice the size, .or nearly so, of a vat which it would be necessary to use where the revolving curd-cutter makes its traverse in one direction, and is then automatically stopped and reversed by the contour of the continuous rack B;

hence the size and form of the vat will be made 8 5 to agree with the form of the rack.

In the plan view shown in Fig. 2 it will be observed that the continuous rack-bar B is of oblong form, and hence the pulley D' will not have a very great amount of lateral movement in changing from one side to the other in its traverse; but this amount may be increased or diminished by correspondingly changing the form of the rack.

In Fig. 3 we show another means for carrying? out thesame object; In that figure, c in dicates the stationary power-shaft, carrying a pulley, I, to which power is imparted by a .K, rigid upon the revolving shaft M, which serves also as the pivot between the arms N O, and upon this shaft M is also rigidly keyed the pulley K, which, by a belt, K", is connected to the pulley L upon the shaft D, which carries the cutters. The pinion D traverses the rack B, the teeth of which are external, being held in mesh therewith by any suitable guide-carriage; and it will be observed that whatever maybe the position of the pinion D the arms N and O accommodate themselves readily to such position, while at the same time the belts J K are kept in their normal operative position as clearly shown in the plan view, Fig. 4. It will also be observed that the distance at which the longitudinal sides of the rack Bin Fig? 4. are separate from each other is approximately equal to the width of swath made by thecutters, and that while the traverse of said cutters in one direction operates upon the end for about one-half such distance the return movement upon the opposite side of the rack B will manipulatethe remaining half, and thus the whole amount be successfully and efficiently operated upon.

It is obvious that by this construction double the amount of milk may be manipulated by a single cutter, and that the continuous traverse obviates the jar, strain, concussion, and noise which necessarily follow the stopping and reversing operation which is employed in the reciprocating cutter.

Modifications in details of construction may be made without departing from the principles or sacrificing the advantages of our invention, the essential features of which are the continuous traverse of the cutters and the means of 1 accomplishing it.

Having-thus described our invention, what we claim.is

1. In an apparatus for cutting or agitating curd in the art of making cheese, a revolving cutter hung upon a vertical rod or shaft, com-. bined with a continuous rack and with means for supporting and moving the said cutter in a continuous traverse in a milk-holding vat, substantially as set forth.

2. In an apparatus for cutting or agitating curd in the art of making cheese, the combination of a milk-holding vat and a vertical shaft, carrying at its lower end a depending cutter or agitator, with a frame arranged above the vat and supporting the upper end of the vertical shaft, mechanism for moving the latter in a continuous traverse, and means for.1otat ing the shaft in a vertical plane and imparting to the cutter or agitator a rotary motion in a horizontal plane about the vertical shaft, substantially as described.

3. An apparatus for cutting or agitating curd in the art of making cheese, combining in its structure a vertical shaft, an elevated frame supporting the upper end of the shaft, a cutter or agitator depending from the lower end of the shaft, and mechanism for moving the vertical shaft in a continuous traverse and imparting to it a rotary motion in a vertical plane, and thereby rotating the cutter or agi tator in a horizontal plane about the vertical shaft, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with a vat in an apparatus for preparing, cutting, oragitating curd in cheese-making, of a vertical shaft carrying the cutters or agitators and a pinion which is held in mesh with a continuous rack, with means for moving said pinion upon such rack in a continuous traverse, and thereby imparting a rotary motion to the said cutters or agitators, substantially as described.

5. In an apparatus for cutting or agitating curd in cheese-making, the combination of a vat and a vertical shaft or arm carrying the cutting or agitating devices and a rigid pinion, a continuous rack with which said pinion is held in mesh, and means, substantially as described, for simultaneously imparting motion to said pinion and cutters, whereby the cutters are made to rotate in a horizontal plane and the vertical shaft to traverse the line of the continuous rackgsubstantially as set forth.

6. In combination with the vertical shaft, cutters or agitators, and pinion, the contin uous rack B, the pivoted jointed arms N O, and means, substantially as described, for imparting motion to said shaft, as and for the purpose set forth.

7 In a machine substantially as described, the arms N O, and shaft M, combined with the power-shaftri, the rotary shaft D, the pulleys J K L, belts J K the continuous rack B, pinion D, and cutters, as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SCOTT JENKS. HENRY W. MILLAR. 

